A New Beginning
by Flickerswift
Summary: Sequel to Paper Flowers. Two years after what Aiko calls the worst day of her life, she decides to help someone. But she soon finds out something that keeps her hope alive. But what she finds isn't what she wanted. And everything falls apart, literally.
1. Prologue

Authors Notes: Ok... I decided to treat you guys for once! Here is the start of Silver Pendants! Ms.Dragon got the buried person right! I'll add more names if people will review! So heres more uh... hints. This is really really obvious who is buried ok? Good. Oh yeah... It's in the person buried point of view. This is the first, and only, chapter that is in this point of view. Otherwise it's Aiko's point of view.

Disclaimer: I don't any Naruto characters. Nuff said.

* * *

Damn it. Stupid fucking idiots. Can't they sense a spike in chakra ten feet away? Even I could fucking do that! Suddenly I felt two Jonin level chakra signatures. Eh... One seems familiar. Oh damn... It's that fucking bomber Deidara. I thought that bastard was dead! I focused my meager chakra supply and let my presence to Deidara and the other shinobi. The chakra in the other form seemed soft. A kunoichi probably. Not as soft as a medics, but not as sharp as a male shinobi. Damn... Whatever was left of my chakra was fading fast. I put more chakra into making my presence known. That was what happened when you couldn't heal properly. Your fucking chakra fades to almost nothing! Damn that shadow user. Thank Jashin-sama I couldn't die. But it had been what? Two, almost three, years? I was so distracted I almost didn't notice the little window of light that became apparent. A rare smile, not smirk, smile, sat on my face. Finally, I was so fucking going to kill a village once I healed. Jashin-sama needs sacrifices. And lots of them. I had to be sure to thank whoever found me. Once I became conscious again of course. I could feel chakra exhaustion looming over me. I did get one final thought in. This kunoichi was defiantly something different. Much smarter than the rest of those bastards.

And with that, everything became dark again.

* * *

Ah... My head... My head feels like it's on fucking fire... I smell the infamous smell of hospitals. Eww... I wonder how they will react when they see I'm not dead even though all my limbs are detached. I could fell something poking my skin at my neck. Probably restitching it back on. Oh I would give almost anything to see the look on their fucking faces that my heart was still beating. I could make out vague voices. There was the annoying croon of Deidara.

"Damn it un! How in hell am I supposed to do that? I'm not a fucking medic! Yeah!" he muttered, poking the needle into my windpipe. Thank Jashin that would heal fast... A new voice entered the room.

"Deidara... Let me have the needle, obviously you haven't ever sewn something..."

"Fine un," Suddenly I felt the needle again, but it was actually doing the right thing. Damn this chick's really good at sewing on body parts. I wonder if they know I'm awake. They could be at the base in the Fire Country. It has a sort of medic wing. It was never used though...

Before I could get another thought in, I fell unconscious again.

* * *

The third time I woke up, I finally could feel at least a little more chakra. Thank Jashin. I decided to crack open my eyes. I was met with blue. Not just blue hair, but blue eyes too. Damn... She looks like Konan. But there were differences. This kunoichi had softer features and a different shaped face. Her eyes weren't cold like Konan's, they were curious. There was something hiding behind the curious expression though. I would have to find out later. I did a quick analysis of my body. Pretty much healed. The only parts that needed to be healed a little more were where my arms, legs, and head were sewn on. Not that bad. Could have been worse. I turned my attention back to the kunoichi. She tilted her head. I narrowed my eyes.

"What?"

"I've never seen purple eyes before unless it was a Hyuga. They are very pretty," she said. I was stunned. Pretty?

"Uh... Thanks?" Suddenly Deidara burst into the room. Er... I meant blew the fucking door up. The kunoichi groaned. Apparently it wasn't the first time.

"Deidara. Don't use your explosives in the bases... Remember what happened to the Amegakure base?" she muttered.

"Gomen un..." Deidara muttered. Ok... That was fucking messed up... Deidara never apologized unless it was Sasori or that bastard of a leader. Damn, this kunoichi must have gotten him good. The kunoichi scoffed and turned back to me.

"Oh! I almost forgot... I'm Aiko," she said. I blinked.

"Hidan," I said, simply.

"Well Hidan-san, I have a question,"

"Yeah?"

"How the hell are you alive?" Well that was certainly to the point.

"I'm immortal,"

"Nani?"

"I'm immortal," I repeated.

"No, I heard that, how are you immortal?"

"Jashin-sama gave me immortality," Heh... Maybe I can convert someone... Doesn't hurt to try every once in a while.

"Jashin-sama?"

"My god,"

"Oh..." Deidara cut in at that point.

"Be fucking grateful that she found you yeah," he muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"Like I could fucking die anyway," I muttered. Deidara scoffed and turned back to Aiko.

"Your turn to cook un," he said. Aiko's eyebrow twitched.

"You blew up a door just to tell me that you burnt our dinner with your explosives?" she asked. Deidara smiled.

"Yup un!"

"You really are an idiot aren't you?"

"That's not nice Aiko-chan! yeah!" A ghost of a smile was on Aiko's face. She sighed and left the room, Deidara following after her, obviously not wanting to be around me. If I wasn't still healing I would have given him the finger.

For some reason Aiko perked my curiosity. Her eyes held something else then just wanting to know who I was. I couldn't exactly pinpoint it, but I wanted to know what she was hiding. By now my arms and legs were almost healed. I must have been unconscious for at least a week. A fucking week of my damn life. That meant I needed at least... A lot of sacrifices. Maybe I could raid a village or something. I yawned and proceeded to ponder where my scythe was.

* * *

Authors Note: Hia people! A treat for you all! The Silver Pendants Prologue! If you still didn't guess Hidan was buried under the rocks, wow... That's kinda sad if you still haven't guessed right. Until next time!


	2. Chapter 1 Waking Up

A New Beginning Chapter 1

Authors Note: Ello! From now this stories in Aiko's point of view. Now to find out where Hidan lost his scythe!

Disclaimer: Do you really think I own Naruto? Well… I don't.

There was something about Hidan that was curious. Not just how his eyes were purple. Or why he was immortal. Or anything else like that. There was something about his personality that perked my interest. And something I thought was interesting was rare after that day. I wonder if Hidan liked stir fry… Because that was what I was making, and he was going to eat whether he liked it or not. I divided the dinner up into three portions and set one on the table for Deidara. A few minutes later, he came out and sat down and proceeded to shovel food down his mouth. I sweat dropped.

I started to walk to the medical wing to give Hidan his food. I decided to stay and talk with him, if he were conscious. I knocked on the door twice, and then let myself in. Hidan was sitting up in bed, slouching, obviously deep in thought.

"Ano… Hidan-san?" I muttered. He looked up.

"Hey Aiko," he greeted.

"Are you hungry? I brought some stir fry," I said, handing him a plate. He took the chopsticks and ate a little.

"This is the best damn stir fry I've ever tasted!" he said, proceeding to shovel it down his throat like Deidara. I sweat dropped. Men. I started to eat my meal a little slower. In under a minute Hidan was done, apparently full.

"Hey Aiko I have a question," he said.

"Yes?"

"When you unburied me, did you happen to see a red scythe with three blades in the hole somewhere?" he asked. I thought for a second.

"No… There were only body parts," I confirmed.

"Fuck," he muttered. I got an idea.

"Hidan-san… Do have any chakra on the blade?" I asked. He thought for a moment.

"I think so… Why?" he asked.

"Flare your chakra for a moment," I instructed. He shrugged and did as I told him. Ok. I knew what I was looking for. I sat down on the floor and closed my eyes, entering almost a mediating pose. Ok… I first check where I found him. There were little traces here and there, but nothing on something. I extended my "vision" a little away from the place.

"Flare your chakra again," I said. Whenever the owner of the chakra flared his original source, the traces brightened a little bit. A certain bit of chakra caught my attention. In an overgrown bush, there was some kind of thing. The charka on the thing was bigger than the traces and the sort of symbol on the ground. It ran on the thing in a blade sort of shape. Probably the scythe. I noted the location and slowly came out of my meditated state. Ugh… Long distance "sights" took a lot of concentration and chakra.

My eyes blinked open to the gray wall. Suddenly a headache sprung.

"Damn… Haven't done that in a while…" I muttered, rubbing my temples. Where in hell was the aspirin? I fumbled in my ninja pack and withdrew a small plastic container. I popped the top and swallowed two pills. I sighed in relief as the headache slowly receded. Hidan was watching me curiously.

"I found it… Under an overgrown bush beside some weird symbol thing, I could only make out one blade, but that could be cause it might have broken," I reported, dragging myself to a chair. I was now almost exhausted.

"How did you fucking do that?" Hidan asked.

"Do what?"

"Find my damn scythe with just my chakra signature," I thought for a moment.

"I don't know the specifics, but I have this ability that senses chakra. If I concentrate on a certain person's chakra for a while, I am able to find them in a crowd or over long distances. But that takes much concentration and chakra. Within a radius of 10 meters I am able to sense chakra unless it is suppressed," I explained.

"So basically you can sense chakra and know when genjutsu's are being cast," Hidan pointed out. I scratched the back of my head.

"Ano… I actually fall for most genjutsu's… They mess with my other senses, so I'm forced to use the chakra sensing one, and then they make multiple signatures… like Kage Bushin, in the genjutsu. Then I get really messed up. I end up realizing they're screwing with me and I release the genjutsu… But by then, I'm almost dead," I explained. Hidan nodded. I observed one of the healing, or now healed wounds.

"How do you heal so fast?" I asked.

"Years of practice," Hidan explained.

"So you know medical ninjutsu?"

"No. My body's gotten used to being mauled, let me tell you it hurts like a bitch, I naturally heal fast," Hidan explained.

"Oh…" I muttered. I did a quick analysis of my remaining chakra. Ugh… Not much… I'll probably exhaust myself if I even do any thing remotely physical. Great. I should really practice the long distance tracking thing. Maybe I could talk to Hidan some more before I go back to my room.

"Aiko," Hidan started.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you help me find my scythe?"

"Ano… I don't really know…" I said.

"I have another question," Hidan started.

"Sure…"

"Why are your eyes so fucking sad looking?" I froze.

"S…Sad L… Looking?" I stuttered.

"Yeah, I've been around a while and I think I know when I see eyes that empty that the person is sad," Hidan said. How can he read me like a book?

"I… um… It's a long story…" I whispered. No… I am not going to cry! I will not cry again! I promised myself.

"Alright. I won't prod. I'm going to sleep now. Night," Hidan said. I stared at him.

"What?"

"You didn't curse…" I muttered, attempting to get up. Thankfully I could. "Night Hidan-san," I said, wandering off to my room and falling onto the bed. I was exhausted! In another moment, sleep overtook me.

I was being shaken.

"Uh... Go away…" I mumbled, throwing my pillow at the intruder. I want sleep. More sleep. I was shaken again. Then the shaking stopped.

BOOM!

I screeched and jumped out of my bed, fully alert and holding a kunai I had hidden in my shirt sleeve. I was sticking to the ceiling with chakra. My vision was upside down, but it rested on the two figures in the doorway. One was Deidara, I could tell that much, and the other was some silver haired person with purple eyes. Hidan. He was holding some kind of weapon, kind of like a scythe. I was guessing that was his scythe. I glared at Deidara.

"You.Fucking.Woke.Me.Up.With.A.Fucking.Explosion?" I growled. Hidan laughed. Deidara grinned.

"Nice to have you back Aiko-chan,"

"Back?" I was confused now. Deidara sighed.

"Never mind…" I stared at him. Back? Where did I go? Weird.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Away from here, ANBU are after us, yeah," I groaned. More ANBU?

"Don't tell me it's Hatake, Uzumaki, and that Haruno brat…" I groaned. Deidara nodded.

"Damn it…" Hidan muttered. I closed my eyes and felt for any chakra signatures. There was a fleeting one, Hatake I think, but nothing else.

"I felt Hatake, but I can't feel any others… They're suppressing their chakra," I reported.

"I saw that damn shadow user sneaking around. I think it's a five-cell team. Hatake is the leader, Shadow user is second in command, Uzumaki is probably the front attack line, Haruno with him, and the last must be some other person, another medic I believe," Hidan said. I nodded.

"Alright. We move out in two minutes. We'll send shadow clones to confront the enemy and lead them away from us, preferably to Iwa or Grass, while we head the opposite direction," I instructed. Deidara and Hidan nodded and quickly made a shadow clone. I made one too and we had them sneak out and start running. I felt a chakra signature reveal itself, Hatake. Then Uzumaki's flared. Then Haruno's. But where were the others?

"Shadow user and the other medic must be staying. The others ran after the shadow clones. Smart move, but not smart enough," I muttered, trying to think of another plan. I needed to know the abilities of the other ninja. One I knew used Shadows, probably of the Nara clan. The other was a medic, that was all I knew. I could tell Deidara was itching to explode things.

"Alright. We fight, but don't kill them, yet. I want to know their abilities. We'll wait till the shadow clones get a ways away from us before we release them. That way the strongest attackers are out of the way," I said. Deidara grinned.

"Let's make some art yeah!" he said, practically running out the door. I sighed and jumped back to the floor. I glanced at Hidan, who was staring at Deidara running into battle.

"Nope, he hasn't changed one fucking bit," Hidan muttered. I sighed.

"Come on, let's get to Deidara. Knowing him, he'll probably blow up the forest before he even blinks," I muttered. Hidan muttered an agreement and we follow Deidara out. Already part of the forest was scorched. I glanced skyward. Deidara was flying on his bird.

"Deidara-baka!" I called. Deidara scowled.

"Don't call me that Aiko-chan, yeah!" he said.

"Keep a lookout up there, if any of us need help, send a small explosion down," I called, knowing the others would hear it.

"Gotcha Aiko-chan!" he called. I looked to where the opponents were. One had dark brown hair in a pony tail that made his head look like a pineapple. Yup. That was Shikaku's son alright. The girl had long platinum blond hair with an eerily similar hairstyle to Deidara's. There was also another person; this person was much higher level than the others. He had black hair in a stupid hairstyle that looked like a ducks butt. He also had the Sharingan.

"Joy… An Uchiha," I muttered. Hmm… I wouldn't last against an Uchiha… Deidara probably wouldn't either, especially if the Uchiha had any lightning jutsus. Hidan was the only one who could do his technique.

"Hidan… You get the Uchiha. Deidara, you have your fan girl," I snickered at my own joke. The blond glared at me. "And I'll take the Nara here," I instructed. Hidan laughed when I said fan girl. Deidara scowled.

"That's my hairstyle un," he said.

"Careful Aiko… That guys smart," Hidan warned, drawing his scythe. "It's been a while, and I need sacrifices. An Uchiha would be great for Jashin-sama," he grinned. He really did look evil with that grin. I decided to lead the Nara away and then start attacking. I smiled sickenly sweetly to the Nara.

"Catch me if you can!" I giggled. Ugh… I actually giggled… I darted away, flaring my chakra every once in a while. The Nara growled and darted after me. I giggled as he caught up to me easily. If I had really been running, I would have out run him long ago. I jumped down to the ground and sniffed the air. Ah. The river was nearby. Good.

"Oi… Why'd you have to run?" the Nara muttered. I grinned.

"I didn't want to get in the way of Deidara… He'll burn you to a crisp. And Hidan will probably kill you in the most painful way possible. Frankly, you should be lucky you got me. I may even let you live," I grinned. Ugh… I hate putting on this act. I hate being this happy person. It was nothing that I am. The Nara scowled, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. I rolled my eyes and started through hand signs. Something simple. A water jutsu. See if he would dodge or counter.

He dodged, landing on a tree branch and making a hand sign. His shadow sprung from under him and raced towards me. I jumped away, trying to remember how to counter shadow attacks from my training with Shikaku. Damn… It was so long ago. I knew there was something on a limit on how far a fully mature shadow user could cast their shadow. But it would keep going if there were other shadows around. Unfortunately, I was in a forest. Damn. I jumped into the trees again, level with the Nara and saw that he was in a thinking pose. I began to formulate a flexible plan that could easily counter all of his attacks. I closed my eyes and concentrated half my mind on planning and the other half on chakra sensing. I finished my plan and felt the Nara's chakra flare a bit. He was obviously ready too. I opened my eyes just as he opened his. Blue met Brown. The battle was about to begin.

Authors Notes: Phew! I made it just in time! I'll try to get the next chapter out in the next two weeks. I'll be starting another story soon too. Maybe two new ones. I haven't decided yet. So be on the look out for anything new!


	3. Chapter 2 Falling Back

A New Beginning Chapter 2

Authors Note: Eh… Sorry it's a bit late… I've been working on Hide and Seek along with this story. I've decided to work on a two week schedule. I know, it should be one week, but I have tons of homework. Damn eighth grade honors teachers. So here's the new chapter of A New Beginning!

I felt the shadow before I saw it. I jumped up in the nick of time and avoided it. I was trying to lure him. I landed on another tree branch. I made a kage bushin and instructed it to hide until I signaled. The bushin nodded and leaped away. I quickly formed a few more hand signs and let a small water jutsu loose on the Nara. He dodged, as I predicted, but he fell right into my trap. The hidden wire was stepped on and a barrage of kunai was thrown at him, but that wasn't the trap. The Nara jumped away into the second phase of my trap. I threw a kunai at him, and he dodged. But I smirked. He didn't notice the exploding note till the last second.

The boom went off and I felt his chakra signature a ways away. He dodged. I smirked and held up my right hand. My kage bushin leaped out and started for the Nara. I jumped over to observe the fighting. He was very good in strategizing. But his chakra was below average. He must be smart if he was in the Nara clan. My kage bushin was using to forward of an attack. Easy to block and find a hole in my defense. I would have to work on that. But my kage bushin was wearing him down a bit. I smirked. This would be easy. My kage bushin poofed out of existence and I analyzed the data given to me. I smirked again.

I jumped down to the ground where the Nara was.

"Congratulations on defeating my shadow clone," I said. "But I won't be as easy," I started to form some hand signs and unleashed a lightning jutsu on him. He dodged, but fell into another of my traps. Then he did something I didn't expect. He smirked. I felt something flare behind me and I jumped away as fast as I could. But not fast enough. The explosion caught the bottom of my left leg. I clenched my teeth and tried to heal it using the meager healing jutsu I knew. Damn… Maybe I should have studied medical ninjutsu. In the end, my healing did nothing much and I landed on a tree branch, cringing in pain. I glared at the Nara.

I flew through some more hand signs and constructed another water jutsu. My chakra and water source was running low. I almost ran the nearby stream dry. I threw a few kunai and shuriken at him, thinking about what to do next. He was getting close to using all his chakra. I was so busy thinking, I almost didn't notice the shadow coming towards me. I leaped away in the nick of time but forgot to watch my landing. And I landed right on the shadow. I silently cursed, trying to fend off the shadow. I still had a bit of chakra left. Not much more than him though. I felt something slide up to my neck and I saw a shadow hand.

"Oh no you don't!" I muttered, trying to force the shadow back down. It worked a little. I continued to force it down, but it felt like I was pushing a really heavy boulder. And I was getting tired fast. I could feel he was getting tired too, so I pushed on. Damn… I was going to faint after all of this at this pace. The shadow was creeping up to my neck. No. I couldn't let it win. Suddenly I had memories flow into my mind. My first kage bushin. I sweat dropped at the way it poofed. Falling out of a tree. I sighed but realized they got pretty far away. That was good. I had to end this battle soon. As in now. I opened my eyes and forced the shadow away. I was running out of energy. Really quickly. I gave one last effort to rid myself of the shadow hand when I became aware of another presence. It wasn't Deidara. It was… Hidan? I didn't think anymore after that, for the shadow link broke and I jumped away.

"Looks like you need some help eh?" Hidan asked. I glared at him.

"I do not need any help. I was about to finish him off," I said. But then I noticed something.

"Hey… Where'd he go?" Hidan asked. I did a quick search of the area around us for chakra or a heart beat. Nothing.

"He disappeared…" I muttered.

"Just fucking great. I wanted to at least kill one person today… The damn Uchiha fled a moment ago. Deidara stopped blowing up things a while ago and went to observe the other part of the team, I don't know what happen to his fucking fan girl," Hidan muttered. I sighed.

"Let's go. We need to relocate. Preferably out of Fire Country," I said. Hidan nodded. We started to leap through the trees.

We met up with Deidara at the border of the Fire Country.

"Where should we go? Iwa's out because they would recognize Deidara, and we caused a stir in Fire Country. Grass is way too hot for my comfort, and Wave is too far away," I said. Deidara shrugged. We were jumping through the trees again.

"What about Amegakure?" Hidan asked. I froze. Deidara slapped his forehead. They both stopped and Hidan turned to me. I once looked in the mirror when I thought of him once. It looked like I was a completely different person. My eyes were hallow, the shield protecting them broken, my face was at least a shade paler, and my mind just turned blank. Hidan looked confused, until Deidara whispered to him.

"We are never going to Amegakure," I said, my voice cold and heartless.

"What about the sea? I haven't been to the damn sea in forever," Hidan suggested. I turned to him again. This time my stare was even more hallow and cold.

"We are never going to the sea," I spat, my voice like ice. I had to admit that Hidan looked a little freaked. If I wasn't still in pain from him, I would laugh at the expression on his face. But it morphed to a smirk.

"You afraid of the water huh?" Hidan teased. I narrowed my eyes. A moment later I was holding a kunai to his neck. My eyes met his.

"If you know what's good for you, you would shut up," I growled. Hidan nodded. I put the kunai away and jumped off.

"We're going to Wind Country, I found us a mission there that will pay well," I said to Deidara. He nodded, knowing not to say anything else.

"Hey! Wait up!" I heard Hidan yell. I didn't slow. We had to move fast if we wanted to out run the back up of the Konoha ANBU.

Unfortunately, I really hated the heat. Fire Country was nice, not to hot, not to cold, but Wind Country and Grass Country was just horrible. But we needed money, and right now the only country offering a good paying mission to lone ninja groups was Wind. But that meant not flying on Deidara's clay bird. That would also mean that we would have to change their appearances. A henge would be detected by shinobi anywhere. But then again, we weren't actually going into Suna. We were going to a town close to Suna, which held a reputation of giving missions to lone ninja groups or pairs. It would be too risky to go just like we were now. Deidara's hair would be a dead give away, my hair and eyes would be too. If they knew about Hidan, his white hair and crazed personality would be a give away too. I sighed.

"We'll have to henge," I said. Deidara nodded, bringing his hands together and performing the jutsu. He was about the same height, but with black spiky hair and green eyes. I did the hand sign and performed the jutsu. I had brown hair with light brown eyes. Hidan grumbled, but did what I said anyway. He was the complete opposite of what he normally looked like. He had long black hair in a ponytail and jade green eyes. He also took a few inches off his height. I nodded and we were off. We were about a few minutes away, at top speed, from the town. Slight chakra flares could signal the near by Suna to send ANBU out. That's why we henged so far away.

We entered the town as normal citizens, but most knew we were shinobi. I did a quick chakra signature search to see if there were any Suna nins around. I detected the heartbeats of a few hidden ANBU at the edge of the town, but they were fleeting, probably on a tracking mission or something. They seemed to be heading away. Good. I gazed at the merchant stands. Mostly exotic foods from Iwa or Konoha and the occasional traveling ninja selling weapons. I made a mental note to come back and buy some after out mission. We arrived at a building that didn't really hold anything to gaze at. I knocked on the door three times and waited a moment till it opened. I entered and paused for a moment, Deidara mimicking my movements. Hidan, however, wasn't so lucky. He stepped in front of us and had to dodge the barrage of kunai thrown from the hidden traps.

"What the fuck?!" Hidan cursed, jumping back just in time.

"Baka…" Deidara muttered. I sighed, but moved on. We winded around in the confusing corridor and I noticed that we were slowly going underground. The temperature was dropping too. Suddenly I felt a flare of chakra up ahead.

"Drop the henges," I heard the voice say. I nodded to Deidara and Hidan, who both dropped their henges. I dropped mine too but kept one hand near the hidden kunai in my sleeve. I didn't have a good feeling about this person. They had too much chakra for their own good. I didn't know this person too well, but I knew that I had never felt his chakra before. I had been to this building before for another mission to get me through the early months of my missing nin days. I had returned many times, but I had never felt, seen, or even heard of this guy.

"That's better. I suppose you're the ninjas for the mission right?" the figure said. He was in the shadows.

"Yes. What is the mission?" I asked, trying to hold my suspicion in. I saw a gleam of a smile from the shadows.

"An assassination mission. You have quite a while to find the target. Six months to be exact. Here is the target," the figure said, holding out a paper. I glanced at it and froze.

"He is already dead," I pointed out, giving the paper back. The figure shook his head.

"No, according to my own eyes, he is not. I saw him but a week ago while I was traveling. It seems you are mistaken. Not even the bingo books know he is still alive," the figure said. I looked him in the eye.

"You're lying," I said.

"Nope. Telling everything that I saw. In fact, I brushed past him in a crowd. You can even search for the traces of his chakra, Kagami-san," the figure said. I narrowed my eyes. I haven't been called that in ages… This guy was defiantly behind in his time. Nevertheless, I closed my eyes and searched. My eyes snapped open when I detected the faintest trace on the figures cloak.

"Deal," I said. Deidara flared his chakra just enough so I could sense it. He knew I was lying. I never agreed to do a mission without every last detail or a person I needed to seek out to find extra information. Even Hidan looked at me weirdly. Deidara gave him a look that said that I was playing with the figure's trust. Hidan nodded and turned his attention back to the figure. We all henged again.

"Six months," the figure reminded us.

"Six months," I repeated, turning and leading the others out of the building. I glanced at the paper in my hands and crumpled it up. I dropped the paper in a waste basket and opened the door to the building. I didn't notice Hidan stop and retrieve the paper.

"Who's our target Aiko-chan, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"An already dead man," I said. Deidara nodded. He learned not to provoke me when I was mad. I walked on ahead to the weapon stand I saw when we first came through and decided to buy all of us some extra kunai and shuriken. I almost didn't hear what Hidan said to Deidara.

"Hey, Deidara, isn't that him?" Hidan asked.

"Him who? Yeah?" Deidara asked.

"That bastard of a…" but Hidan was cut off by Deidara punching him in the face once he noticed I froze.

"Shut up…" Deidara muttered. I moved on to the weapon stand. There was no way in hell that he was alive.

Or else I was going to kill someone for not telling me.

Authors Note: Yay! Sorry again that it's a few days late. I'm also updating Hide and Seek, the sequel to Missing, as well. As for the chapter title of this, Falling Back, it refers to Aiko falling back into her depression from when Pein died. And the previous chapter's title, Waking Up, refers to Aiko breaking out of her depression.


	4. Chapter 3 Breaking Out

A New Beginning Chapter 3

Authors Note: Hiya! Sorry this chapter's out so late… My school is piling on the homework. –glares at homework- I'm procrastinating…

Disclaimer: Who do you think I am? Kishimoto?

"Aiko… We need to talk, un," Deidara said. I looked up at him.

"Sure," I said, blinking. Why did we need to talk? Hidan was already asleep.

"What's wrong Aiko, yeah?" I blinked again. What's wrong? What was he talking about?

"Nothing is wrong. Why do you ask?"

"Because you've been acting weird lately. You're all snappish and bitchy one moment, un, and then the next you're all calm and soothing. And then you go into your emotionless phases! Yeah!" Deidara explained. I looked blankly at him. Emotionless?

"What are you talking about?" Deidara sighed.

"How much of the last two years do you remember? Yeah," he asked. I thought for a minute.

"I remember after he died… We went to Wave, and then we started backtracking to Grass… And…" I trailed off. I could barely remember anything.

"How many ANBU did you kill those two years? Un?" Deidara asked. I gave him a crazy look. What the hell was he getting from this?

"I don't know… Ten, maybe fifteen…" I answered. Deidara gazed at me.

"Aiko… In the last two years, you've killed at least fifty ANBU, twenty Hunter Nin, and seven bounty hunters, yeah…" Deidara said. My eyes widened. Seventy-seven people in the last two years? And that was because I was so good at suppressing my chakra. If I hadn't, I probably would have killed at least hundreds! My eyes gazed down at my hands.

"T…That…Many?" I whispered. Why can't I remember that? Then it hit me. Emotionless. Depression. Pein. I hadn't thought that name for over two years. Pein. Tears prickled my eyes. Then I thought of the mission we had. Him.

"Aiko? Are you ok? Un?" Deidara asked. My head snapped up.

"We're leaving. At first light. We need to find this man," I said. Deidara looked at me.

"Hai," he said. I got up and went to the door that connected the two hotel rooms. I exited to my room and proceeded to fall asleep.

I yawned. Where in hell was Deidara? Hell… Even Hidan was here before him.

"So the fucking bomber decided not to show up eh?" Hidan muttered. I sighed and waited for Deidara. Suddenly I saw a shadow above. I looked up and saw Deidara flying on his bird. A note floated down. I glared at the bird and snatched the note out of the air.

_Sorry Aiko-chan! Some things came up and I can't stay here any longer! I must be leaving! We'll meet again some day. I know we will. Have fun with Hidan,_

_Arts a Bang!_

_Deidara_

_PS, I would get out of town soon…_

I slapped my hand to my forehead.

"We're leaving. Now!" I said.

"Why?" Hidan asked.

"Do you want to get blown up?" I asked him. He muttered something but followed me out of town anyway. Once we were a safe distance away, the town behind us burst into flames.

"Where's the fucking bomber?" Hidan asked.

"He ditched us because 'Some things come up'," I growled. Hidan snorted.

"No good fucking idiot…" he muttered. I sighed.

"We should get going… Apparently our target was moving towards Konoha…" I muttered. Again with the Fire Country? I swear that village is a trouble magnet.

"It isn't wise to be going back to fucking Konoha…" Hidan muttered.

"I know… But he's the only one who can bring him back…" I whispered. I held back the tears that were going to burst out.

"Who's him?" he asked, his voice right next to my ear. I jumped a bit. How did he get there so fast without me noticing?

"No one!" I muttered. I looked away from those hypnotizing purple eyes. Hidan sighed.

"Come on Aiko! Tell me who!" he said. I narrowed my eyes.

"No," I said firmly.

"Please Aiko-chan!" he said. Oh Kami… He used chan… Damn Deidara. He probably taught the immortal that I couldn't resist not answering to Aiko-chan…

"N…No," I stuttered. Keep it together Aiko. Just keep saying no.

"Please Aiko-chan! Pretty please tell me!" Hidan asked, no, begged. Crap… I couldn't hold out much longer…

"Later," I said. Maybe if I pushed it off till later and claimed that I forgot… A perfect plan! I heard Hidan grumble something. Suddenly I was pinned to the nearest tree. Whoa. Going from moving at practically top speed to stand still was really weird. My head spun. When my vision cleared, I saw that Hidan was pinning me to the tree. I tried to tear my eyes away from his hypnotic purple eyes, but I couldn't.

"We're not going any further till you fucking tell me," he said. It wasn't a demanding voice. It was more of a voice with power. Damn him. I sighed.

"This will take a while," I said. Hidan nodded and released me, sitting on the tree branch. I took a deep breath and started to tell my story.

By the end I was in tears. No. I had to stop crying. Why couldn't I stop? I tried, in vain, to shove all the pain down, but it came up anyway. It took all my willpower not to break down right on the tree branch. I didn't dare look at Hidan. He probably didn't believe me. I didn't blame him. It was his former boss, if you could call Pein that. New tears formed at thinking his name. I drew my knees up to my chest and tried to dry the tears. I had to be strong.

"So that's why you want to get to the damn idiot," Hidan said. I nodded, thinking about our mission's target. Six months to capture an S-ranked missing-nin who is a master at hiding his whereabouts. Just for one jutsu. But it was worth it. It was worth it… Just to see him again, and be held in his arms again. Oh great… More tears. I clenched my jaw and tried to stop the flow of tears, but I couldn't. After two years of holding it all in, I couldn't keep anything in anymore.

The only thing I was aware of was my surroundings. Suddenly, without warning, Hidan grabbed me and pulled me over to him. I froze, not knowing what was going on. I felt Hidan's arms around my curled up form and I was being held very close to his chest. If it was in any other situation, I would have been blushing like mad. But this embrace felt right.

"It's ok Aiko… We'll get him back somehow," I almost didn't hear him say that. We would get him back somehow. It was only a matter of waiting.

I felt the chakra signature before I saw them. ANBU. And lots of them too.

"Ah… Fuck," Hidan muttered. I cursed.

"Ditch the cloaks, I think I may be able to get us out of this, for now," I said, slipping off my Akatsuki cloak.

"I don't have another shirt," Hidan pointed out. I slapped my hand to my forehead and took out a scroll. I released the seal on it and handed him a black t-shirt.

"That's all I have for now," I said. Hidan nodded and put the shirt on. I proceeded to then sit on a branch.

"Now we wait," I said. Hidan looked at me with a 'What the Fuck are you planning?' face. But he sat down too. I flared my chakra and then a moment later the ANBU were on us. I held up one hand.

"We're not here to fight," I said. The ANBU looked skeptical.

"State your reasons for why you are here," the leader of the ANBU squad stated. I glanced at him. That chakra was somehow familiar…

"Tenzo-kun? You stayed with the ANBU?" I said. Tenzo… Yes… The one with the First's DNA… I believe I taught him some water jutsus once. A long time ago. The ANBU captain stiffened.

"Ai-chan? Is that really you?" he asked, his voice a low whisper. I winced at the nickname. Ai-chan? I haven't heard that in a long time.

"Yes. And I have a deal to make. Take me to the Hokage," I said. I glanced at Hidan. He nodded.

"With him?" One of the ANBU pointed to Hidan.

"Hai," I answered. The ANBU shrugged and took out some chakra depleting handcuffs. Oh joy. We let the ANBU put the handcuffs on and we were off to Konoha.

The blond Hokage rubbed her temples. I could tell her day was not going well.

"Explain it again," she said.

"We have been informed that our target is indeed alive and a threat to Konoha as well as ourselves. We are required to kill him no matter what. Neither of us has confronted him, but if we had information we would be able to eliminate the threat more easily. If you would please let us look up information on him, we won't look up anything else, we will be out of your village within three days. ANBU can escort us. All we need is the information," I said.

"Some food would be fucking nice too…" Hidan muttered. I shot him a warning glare.

"How do you expect me to trust two S-ranked missing nin, one of you who tried to kidnap Naruto, in my personal library?" She asked. I sighed.

"Please, we desperately need the information! Eliminating him will help Konoha too! Hell, I'll even kill the Uchiha if you want, I'll kill all of his little squad too. Just please, let us look up the information," I said. Tsunade rubbed her temples.

"Do you have anything personal to gain from this?" she asked. I hesitated just a tiny bit.

"Only one thing, and I promise you'll never hear from us again," I said, keeping my plans vague.

"For Jashin's sake… We won't fucking bug you anymore, in your eyes we'll disappear off the damn planet, unless you send squads after us, then we'll fucking kill them," Hidan said. Tsunade rubbed her temples again.

"Fine. You can go research, but I expect you out of here in three days," she said. I grinned and followed the black haired assistant to the Hokage's personal library. Maybe if we finished early I could research another thing I wanted to know.

"Hidan, you look through these books. Tell me if you find anything interesting. Disregard all history unless it has to do with how he acquired his jutsus," I said.

"Yeah yeah…" he muttered, starting on a book. I took another book and started to look through it.

"Hey, Hidan… Make some Kage Bushins. It will get this done a lot faster," I said, making about ten Kage Bushins. That was about all I could manage at once. Hidan nodded and made ten also. They each picked up a book and started to read.

After about the third book about our target, I was getting sick of this. I had found only one thing that helped us. That wasn't much. Hidan, for once, was actually looking through each book, carefully.

"I'm going out for a while," I said. Hidan nodded. I wanted to see if I could find a person. I exited the library, avoiding the Hokage's office, and quickly henged. I had brown hair and green eyes. I needed to find someone. I decided to try the dango shop. I was getting hungry anyway. By the time I got there, it was pretty empty. There was only one other person there. I grinned. Perfect. I ordered my dango and waited for it to come. When it was ready, I made my way over to the table where the woman sat.

"Mind if I sit here?" I asked. The purple haired woman look a bit shocked.

"Uh… Sure if you want. You're not from around here are you?" she asked. I sat in a chair.

"Actually… I haven't been here a long time. Everything's changed," I commented. The woman gazed at me.

"You can drop that henge now you know," She commented. I smirked.

"So you caught me huh?" I said, dropping the henge.

"It wasn't that hard," the woman snorted. I smirked again.

"I need some information. I've been in a library all day, but I need to know some more things," I started, eating some of my dango.

"About what?" the woman raised her eyebrow. I took out our paper for the mission.

"This man," I said. The woman looked at the picture and shook her head.

"He's dead," she said. I shook my head.

"He's alive. And I'm supposed to eliminate him," I said. The woman glanced at the picture again.

"Better order another meal, We'll be here a while," she said.

"Any information is good," I said.

**That day I met the slightly crazy, yet misunderstood Mitarashi, Anko.** **And I was surprised to find that there were people out in the world like me, only living for the sake of living.** **Authors Note: Sorry!!!! This is out SO late!!!!!!!! Stupid homework… I hope the next one won't be so late!!!!!!**


	5. Chapter 4 Falling Apart

A New Beginning Chapter 4

Authors Note: Um… Hi everyone… School's bogging me down… and I know this is insanely late…And I'm sorry! Life happens… Added note: This came out BEFORE I read the newest manga chapter. I DID NOT know Nagato had redish orange hair. In all the other manga chapters, it was colored in black, so I assumed his hair was dark. I'm not going to change the chapter, so in my fanfiction, Nagato's hair is black, ok? Good.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, who do you think I am? Kishimoto?

I woke up to the sounds of tapping on the window of the inn that I was staying at. I glanced at the window. Joy of all joys… ANBU. I opened the window.

"What? It's five in the freaking morning," I growled.

"Hokage-sama requests your presence," the ANBU said. I gave him my best death glare.

"This better be important," I growled as the ANBU jumped away. I found a clean set of clothes and put them on. I yawned and combed out my hair. I looked in the mirror and did a double take.

"What the hell?" I said. My blue hair had darkened to an almost blue-violet color. And my eyes were a lighter shade of blue than I remembered. I tried releasing a genjutsu, but it didn't work. I heard a knock on the door heard it open.

"Hey Aiko… Did the ANBU come to you too?" I heard Hidan ask. "Aiko? Are you even listening to me? Why are you staring at yourself?"

"My hair was not this color yesterday," I said flatly.

"Yes it was. Remember, you dyed it so you wouldn't be recognized by anyone here in Konoha," Hidan said.

"I do not remember that,"

"After you took your little walk yesterday, you went into a ninja supply store to get kunai and found the bottle of permanent dye and bought a year's worth supply of it and sealed it into a scroll. Then you got some medic to lighten your eye color for a small fortune," Hidan explained.

"Then how come I cannot remember that?" Hidan shrugged.

"Maybe the medic accidently wiped your memory,"

"Hidan, the eyes have almost nothing to do with the memory part of the brain, sure they record observations and store it for later, but something like an eye surgery shouldn't alter your memory," I explained. Hidan shrugged again.

"Whatever, but we better get to the Hokage's office,"

"Yeah," I agreed.

So after being woken up at the crack of dawn, realizing I couldn't remember anything about my sudden change in appearance, and overall being cranky, Hidan and I arrived at the Hokage's office. We knocked and were ushered in.

"I have something that could potentially help you," The Hokage said.

"Really?" I asked, skeptical.

"Yes, in fact he should be coming around now," Tsunade said. A knock was heard. The door was opened and four ANBU carrying two bodies came through. The chakra was very weak in one of them, and the other there was barely a heartbeat.

"I believe…" Tsunade started, but I cut her off.

"That man is about to die," I interrupted.

"What do you mean?" The Hokage said.

"His chakra is practically gone and his heart beat is at a dangerously low rate, plus I can see that he's skin and bones, so I believe he is malnourished," I pointed out.

"You're not a medic though," Tsunade said. I stared at her with an even gaze.

"I have trained with many hunter nin, so I know the body inside out. I know some basic healing jutsus, but above all, I am a chakra specialist. The bingo books don't list all of my abilities. And I believe that man is about to die," I said. Hidan decided to join the conversation.

"Look, even I can tell this guy is about to fucking die, it's not that hard. Just take one look at him and you can see almost every bone in his damn body," he muttered. Tsunade glared at him.

"Fine, I'll check. But this is only because he is believed to have information about many things in the world," Tsunade muttered. She walked over to the skinnier man and laid one hand on his head. I saw her hand glow green for a few seconds. A moment later she took the hand off and motioned for another ANBU.

"Get Sakura and Ino, now!" she hissed. The ANBU jumped off. I smirked. I was right. Tsunade turned to the other ANBU holding the skinny guy.

"Get him to the intensive care unit. Sakura and Ino will be waiting for you. Don't let him die," she instructed. The ANBU nodded and carefully carried the guy away.

"Who's that guy?" Hidan asked.

"Let me go…" a new voice said gruffly. It sounded familiar… Isn't that… The Uchiha?

"Fuck no. Get that fucker away from me," Hidan muttered. Yep. The Uchiha.

"I thought he was working with you," I said. I remembered the ambush.

"For that moment he was. But then the squad captured him. He is considered a missing-nin you know," Tsunade said. I nodded.

"How's that fucker going to help us?" Hidan muttered.

"He's yours till noon," Tsunade said.

"What?!" Hidan yelled. I sighed and walked over to where the Uchiha was being held. I could see the chakra draining handcuffs on his wrists. He couldn't get out of the ANBU's hold. His chakra was dark and tainted.

"You," I stated.

"I have a name,"

"I don't care," He was silent, so I continued. "Tell me about this person," I said, holding a picture up. The Uchiha's eye twitched.

"He's dead,"

"No he isn't,"

"Yes he is. I killed him,"

"Apparently one of his henchmen injected his remains into himself," He muttered something that sounded a bit like 'fucking Kabuto…'

"Do you know anything that might be of interest to me?" I asked. I saw the chakra cuffs glow a bit, the seals suppressing his chakra. He managed to get just enough chakra out. His eyes turned to the Sharingan and stared straight into mine, taking us into my mindscape.

"The others can't know about this," he muttered.

"Of course," I said. The Uchiha proceeded to tell me about his former master's jutsus and other tidbits of information that was very helpful to me. The last piece of information was the most helpful.

"He's probably going to either grass or sound country. Those are where the majority of his followers are. If you can find Karin, she will work for you. Take this scroll; she'll know I've sent you," Uchiha said, throwing a scroll over my way. How he managed that with handcuffs on, I had no clue. I pocketed the scroll and suddenly we were back in the real world.

"Thank you," I said. The Uchiha nodded.

"He didn't tell you anything," Hidan muttered.

"You just didn't hear it," I said. I turned to Tsunade. "Thank you for your hospitality, I promise you won't ever hear from us again," Tsunade nodded and I started out of the room.

"Hey! Wait up!" Hidan said, running after me. "Where the hell are we going?" I had a hunch.

"The heart of Sound Country," I replied. Hidan gave me a 'What the fuck are you thinking' look, but followed me anyway.

"Aiko, it's that way," Hidan muttered, pointing to the other direction.

"No it isn't. It's that way," I said, pointing to another direction. We had been arguing about which way our target was for hours. Suddenly I felt a twinge of powerful chakra on the edge of my senses.

"Shh," I said, concentrating. Very powerful and… Snake-like. Yup. That was him. We finally found him. Without a word to Hidan, I jumped off in the direction of the chakra.

"Hey! Aiko!" Hidan yelled after me. But I was already off.

~~~~~Hidan's Point of View~~~~~

"God damn it…" I muttered. That bitch just took off again. I wouldn't dare say that to her face, she'd bury me alive. Like she did the first time that I called her a bitch. She left my head out of the ground though. But she left me in the middle of a forest for three days. Without food or water. I was starving when she came to get me again. That is why I never call Aiko a bitch to her face.

But when she just gets up and chases after some chakra signature, leaving me behind, well you know… It's really annoying. Especially when this is the fifth time that it's happened. I got up and attempted to catch up with Aiko. It didn't take long to figure out what she wanted. Considering her past and the target, it's easy to put two and two together. She's heard rumors of the jutsu the target uses, and she would do anything for that bastard of a leader. Women.

I remember reading something about this jutsu. I believe it said that the jutsu needed a human sacrifice. I didn't know if I counted as a whole human, but I bet my hand that Aiko was going to use me as a sacrifice if she could find that bastard. How ironic. Usually I'm the one sacrificing people. If I'd have known that the only reason Aiko was healing me was to sacrifice me for her dead love, I would have stayed in that ditch I was stuck in. But this was just a fucking theory. I'd have to catch up to her in order to know the truth. But something was off. That guy in Konoha. The really skinny guy. He seemed… I'm not sure… but he seemed familiar. His chakra, though weak, was very familiar. He could have been part of the Akatsuki. I was really familiar with Akatsuki members' chakra. Considering I sealed almost all bijuu's with them. The only people who had that dark of hair were Tobi and Itachi. It wasn't Itachi. Itachi's hair isn't that short, and he isn't that tall. And Tobi's hair is shorter than that. But the chakra is familiar… I went through all the Akatsuki's chakra's in my head. Suddenly I stopped. Could that be…? My eyes widened.

I had to catch up to Aiko. And quick. There was something I needed to tell her. Fuck… This was not going to end well. I ran with renewed speed.

I could finally feel Aiko's presence again. And that snake bastard. Can't Aiko see that bastard will keep asking favors even if the jutsu works? I pushed a little too much chakra into my next jump and went flying over where Aiko and that snake bastard were standing. I unsheathed my scythe and threw it down at the mutant snake bastard. He jumped back and glared at me.

"God damn it Hidan…" I heard Aiko growl. Jeez. Can't she tell I'm saving her?! Women. I landed on my feet on a branch a few meters away from Aiko.

"Just stay there," she growled. I glared at her, but stayed where I was. Now to see if my theory is correct. Aiko turned to the mutant.

"Gomen. My partner is a bit overprotective," she said. Overprotective? I am not!

"It's ok. I'm sure he will make a fine specimen…" the snake said. Specimen?

"When can you do it?" Aiko asked.

"Right now if you like… It only takes a few minutes, but what is in it for me?" he asked.

"The one thing you want," the snake looked shocked.

"You have found the secret to immortality?"

"All you have to do is worship a different God," Aiko said. I wanted to say it was more complicated then that, but I kept my mouth shut. Jashin-sama wouldn't accept that bastard as a follower.

"That's all?" the snake said with a smirk. "Then let's start," Aiko looked indifferent on the outside, but I could tell that she was almost shaking with joy.

"Aiko. Can I talk to you? Alone?" I asked. She shot me a glance.

"Fine," We jumped off a few meters away.

"Aiko. I need to tell you something," I started.

"Shut up Hidan, you're not getting out of this. I thought you wanted me happy," Aiko cut me off. I cringed a little inside.

"I do, but it has to do with that guy in Konoha,"

"The skinny guy? What about him?" Aiko said.

"His chakra… It was very familiar. It has to be someone from the Akatsuki," I said. Aiko rolled her eyes.

"Very funny Hidan. From what Deidara told me, the only people in the Akatsuki with that dark of hair are Itachi and that masked guy, Tobi," Aiko said.

"But Deidara didn't know another member who had dark hair, it was that b… I mean the Leader," I caught myself just in time. Aiko shook her head.

"Pein has orange hair. Not black. And that couldn't be Pein. I know his chakra too. That chakra was too dark. Too sinister to be Pein," she said.

"Aiko, please listen to me!" I was getting impatient now.

"Hidan. Stop trying to talk me out of this! I'm going to do it whether you like it or not!" she started to yell. Was she going to? Yup. She was. I was punched in the face and went flying back a few meters, right into a box. The lid closed and I couldn't get out. Damn chakra seals… Suddenly I felt a shiver of someone else's chakra run through me. I expected something to change, but nothing happened.

"What the fuck?" I muttered to myself. What was going on? The chakra pulse came back stronger. My vision began to swim. Then suddenly, I snapped back to normal. In anger, I kicked the door of the box out. Surprisingly, it came open quite easily.

"It appears that the person you seek is still alive," I heard the snake bastard say.

"I saw him die with my own eyes Orochimaru!" I heard Aiko growl.

"It seems you were wrong," I took a step out into the daylight.

"And it seemed I was fucking right," I said. Aiko glared at me.

"Fine then. We're back to Konoha," Aiko said, her blue eyes clear and sharp.

"Not so fast," Orochimaru started, but I cut him off.

"Shut up bastard," I said, throwing my scythe at him. He dodged, but had enough sense to back away from this fight. You couldn't win if you were battling an immortal. Unless you were a fucking genius. I wasn't falling for that trap again though. Aiko took off back towards Konoha again, and I caught up to her.

"Come on, say it," I said. She glared at me.

"Fine. You were right, I was wrong, happy now?" she said.

"Very," I replied. But I could tell something was bothering Aiko. I started to think. How were we going to get into Konoha, transport a malnourished person to a safe place, and evade any enemy encounters?

I guess we would have to find out.


End file.
